that would be a stack of punch cards – longer than the distance from New York to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
p.s. thanks to TEKSERVE for help – with the math. and the history !! <\/p>\n
with reference to the GERALD FERGUSON SHOW. esp the off-ochre coloring of the backgrounds and the patterning, or NOT !!<\/p>\n
before computers became ‘personal’ . . let alone hand-held !! right up through the 70s – punch cards, like the vintage one below – were the key to entering & working data. i.e. computing.<\/p>\n
stacks of these manilla-colored ‘IBM’ or ‘Hollerith’ cards, measuring 7-1\/4 x 3-1\/4 in. and approx. 2 sheets of typing paper thick – were the early ‘computer programs’. <\/p>\n
each card had roughly 80 bytes of capacity. computer nerds walked around with boxes of the things, carefully labelled across the top – in case they fell out of order. <\/p>\n
today, state-of-the-art hard drives, (selling for under $100 !!) handle 2 terabytes of info. a terabyte<\/a> is “2 to the 40th power” or approximately one thousand (1,000) billion bytes !! or 1,000 gigabytes. <\/p>\n that would be a stack of punch cards – longer than the distance from New York to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n p.s. thanks to TEKSERVE for help – with the math. and the history !! <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/vintage-computing-card.jpg\" "\\"vintage-computing-card\\"")
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